Belgian concerns about human rights violations and "repression" in Bahrain

The Belgian Senate called on the country's government to inform the Bahraini authorities of concerns regarding human rights violations and repression of basic democratic rights.

Senator Uri van der Voer - who submitted the draft - said the council had called on Manama to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and cruel or degrading punishments.

The Council also urged the Bahraini government to re-establish an effective moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and to release human rights activists.

The draft resolution stated that the multiple violations violate the international treaties and covenants that Bahrain signed, and violate the country's constitution, and that Manama intensifies the campaign of harassment, repression and prosecution of political activists, despite the release of a number of prisoners in recent years.

The Council noted that the government in Bahrain continued to use the citizenship revocation card as a means of political repression of human rights activists, politicians and journalists.

Earlier, eight UN Special Rapporteurs expressed grave concern at the mistreatment of political detainees in Bahraini detention centers that "may amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."

In a letter to the Bahraini government, the experts documented a series of violations committed by prison staff, including medical neglect, religious discrimination, and harassment.

Allegedly. Acknowledgment
The UN Special Rapporteurs have said that the staff of some of the detention facilities have committed a range of violations against women prisoners.

They explained that these violations include delaying scheduling with specialized doctors or providing the results of medical examinations, installing a glass barrier during family visits that prevent physical contact between women and their children, as well as religious discrimination and other forms of harassment.

While the Bahraini government claimed that prisoners were allowed out of their cells for eight hours a day, the National Institute for Human Rights in the Kingdom acknowledged that women prisoners were only allowed two hours a day outside their cells.